Target: Jim Jordan, Chair of U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary
Goal: Toughen penalties for crimes linked to animal cruelty.
A man in Minnesota was charged with flight from law enforcement after he faced accusations of abusing an animal at a mall. In Tennessee, another man faced charges of kidnapping, rape, and assault. In the course of that investigation, authorities reportedly found multiple dead dogs and uncovered evidence of alleged long-term animal cruelty.
Both cases demonstrate the link between apparent animal cruelty and other crimes. Yet too often in such cases, the animal cruelty charges fall through the cracks. Instead, these serious charges should be treated as worsening, or aggravating, factors and merit even stronger punishments in the event of proven wrongdoing.
Sign the petition below to urge a widespread legal emphasis on animal cruelty as an aggravating crime.
PETITION LETTER:
Dear Representative Jordan,
Across the world, an animal endures abuse roughly once every minute. While an estimated two percent of Americans engage in acts of animal cruelty, that number soars to 71 percent for domestic abusers and up to 88 percent for child abusers. For all manner of felony crimes, an inextricable link exists between animal cruelty and the violent acts, up to and including murder.
Cases across the country demonstrate this uneasy association, as animal cruelty charges often accompany charges for other seemingly unrelated crimes. Despite the reality, the animal cruelty charges are many times the first to fall and the last to be acted upon in the rush for a plea deal or a tidied-up case. The exact opposite should be true. In all of the legal speak surrounding aggravating versus mitigating circumstances, animal cruelty should be viewed as one of the ultimate aggravating circumstances.
With many states failing to enact appropriate felony-level laws for these acts, guidance should come from the federal level. Please make any necessary amendments to current federal laws that emphasize the importance of pursuing all animal cruelty cases, especially cases linked with other crimes. If crime prevention is a priority, then preventing and punishing gateway animal cruelty should be of the highest priority.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
Photo Credit: Eyyup Erten
